Pictures at an Exhibition

Lambs Grill on 169 South Main Street will be hosting an open house for my father-in-law's exhibition tomorrow, Monday, December 14th from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. The exhibition, titled "Mother and Son" stars KC and I. My Friends and family are invited. Refreshments will be served.

Post-Thanksgiving Festivities

We went to see Santa Claus..
and the line was long

too long. Four families ahead of us. We didn't make it. Left without candy.
Manti City Light Parade

Technical Savvy

I recently commented on someone's facebook post about technical language and how and when to use it. A family member jotted off about C++ computer programming, .find and such and such commands, and finding the last occurance. This family member also commented that most people don't understand when he talks computers..and I responded, "Don't be so hot on yourself. Doctors, lawyers and scientists use technical terms with others to make themselves look smart all the time, when actually they're just lazy. They also leave out information to confuse others. For example, the last occurance of what? It actually takes brains to translate technical language into common language and it's also courteous to think about your audience."
Many people do not pay attention to their audience(s). A class I took on Teaching Biology taught me something about technical language and directing audiences. We use technical language for perhaps two reasons, it's faster to say or it makes us sound more intelligent than others. The word tachycardia has five syllables and means rapid heart rate, which has only 4 syllables. The word Tachycardia is an example of a word that doctors use to make themselves sound smarter than their patients, it certainly is not faster to say.
So the question is when is it apropriate to use technical language? My answer is consider your audience. It may be faster to speak technically with your colleagues, but it certainly should not be used to lose your audience out of laziness or pride. Human Beings want to make connections. Facilitate those connections. Live in harmony.
My husband has been reading a book, "Revising Pros", that teaches a several step process to simplify or turn technical language into common language that everyone can understand. My point is it is not always easy to translate our technical terms into common language. It takes brains, but it's the polite thing to do. Now that's what I call technical savvy 101.

Uniqueness

Let me clarify what I mean by my not being unique. Any one particular event or experience that we have is not unique. Someone else in the world has experienced it. What is unique is our collection of events or experiences that we have over a life time. I don't want to depress anyone by saying they are not unique.

Things I have learned today

1. I am not unique.

2. I am satisfied with not being unique.

3. No one can make me regret my own life experiences, whether by choice or by circumstance. So I have nothing to risk by sharing them.
4. I am happy and grateful for my life!

5. KC needs an earlier bedtime.

decision making and stress overload

While I was donating plasma on Thursday, I read an article in the Women's Home Journal about depression, stress, and decision making. Americans, particularly, along with our independence, we think we need to make so many decisions that it sometimes becomes overwhelming to the point of paralysis for some folks. The first step to avoiding paralysis, the article portrays, is to dispose of the "indecisive" title, whatever that means. Anyway, I really do find myself fretting into a downward spiral of insignificant oppositions or debates about which plastic bags to buy at the store, a specific example found in the Women's Home Journal,or to go without entirely or whether to use cloth diapers or the inconvenient truth. How funny, I've become a stereotype.
Everyone's looking for that fountain of youth, anything to improve their health, become young again, live the longest and have the most prosperity, find their niche. We search still for happiness or the best way. And there are many things out there to distract us from finding happiness.Satan sure tries to tempt us away with mole hills that seem to be mountains.
I really liked the First Presidency message in the October 2009 Ensign Magazine for the LDS church. It's titled,"Finding Strength through Obedience." The article explains there is no fountain of youth, but the fountain of truth. As revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1833,"Truth is knowledge of things as they are, as they were and as they are to come;.. Jesus received a fullness of truth.. And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments..He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things."
Truth is what i seek, happiness is what I want, Obedience will help me find them. Obedience will give me strength, amidst the indecision/doubt that causes me to spend an hour in the store debating plastic bags or what I should make for dinner. Amen.

Quilt

I finished a quilt over conference weekend. What a marathon! After a month of working on it off and on, it's finished. I like the way it turned out.



On another note, no one wants to hire me. So, I'm trying to find ways to obtain sufficient funding for my needs. Do you think something like this would sell?

I could also do nine patch patchwork cats and/or cats in the bag. I've started crocheting a scarf. We'll see how that goes. If anyone wants a quilt, I'll make one for you in exchange for a reasonable monetary offer. I may take up bread making and/or candy making to pay for Dave's tooth to be fixed (how ironic). I have an appointment to donate plasma. If everything goes to plan, I'll do that for a while.
Also, I'm looking for sponsors so I can run the Ogden Marathon next May. Registration deadline for a 75 dollar entry fee is November 1st. If you become one of my sponsors I will write your name or business or whatever you want on my T-shirt.